No Longer Alone

by SparkleForever

Not Out of the Woods Yet

Luna appeared a short distance away, gasping on the ground. Blinking water out of her eyes, she could now see what they were up against. It was a river serpent, eyes cold and menacing, and it was facing off against Celestia. The creature was deceivingly unimposing in the water until it leaped into the sky after her. Most of its body had been underwater; the serpent was nearly as long as the river was wide. It easily reached Celestia and swiped a sharp claw at her throat. Luna choked out a cry. Celestia managed to dodge, beating her wings rapidly to gain altitude. She rose a safe distance away from the creature in the air and immediately struck it with a force spell, pushing it all the way back into the water. Immense power illuminated her horn and her eyes took on an eerie glow. Playtime was over.

“Stand down, foul beast! Only a fool challenges the Sun!” Piercingly bright light burst forth from Celestia’s horn and hit the beast in the chest. It staggered back with a roar, succumbing to Celestia's power. It collapsed with its eyes screwed shut, groaning. The light vanished and Celestia turned around, gaze searching. She spotted Luna on the river bank and shot one last golden beam at the creature before teleporting to her side.

“Luna, Luna!” Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder and began to shake her. “Hang in there! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“N-n-no, m-m-j-just d-dan-d-dy,” Luna forced out. Her head jerked toward the river. “W-what d-id you d-do?”

“To that creature? Sunstroke and temporary blindness, just enough to incapacitate him for the time being. But enough about that, you’re freezing! Why haven’t you dried yourself off yet?”

“I, uh. Huh.” Speech failed her. Luna realized belatedly that Celestia hadn’t been shaking her. Her coat was drenched and it was starting to freeze over. “M-my thoughts are m-muddled, sister.”

“Don’t worry, Luna. I will not allow hypothermia to take you. You’ll be right as rain in no time!” Celestia enveloped her in a hug, wings and all. Once again, the celestial aura embraced Luna, surrounding her with great warmth. This time, she did not fight it. Within seconds her fur dried, her breathing evened and her shivering stopped. Warmth also filled her chest and Luna knew that it wasn’t from the aura.

“Thank you, dear sister.” Luna sighed. “I love you.”

“I love you too, little sister.” Celestia nuzzled her. A moment passed, then she stood up and offered a hoof to Luna. “How do you feel?”

Luna took her hoof and smiled. “Better than I have in a long time.”

“Good. Now let’s take care of this creature that dares to threaten royalty!” They turned their attention back toward the river and gasped. The serpent had already recovered from Celestia’s attack. He glared at them, head just above the river’s surface, biding his time. The sisters adopted defensive stances.

“He must have a fast healing ability!” Celestia exclaimed. She looked at Luna. “Any ideas?”

Luna nodded. “To start, he’s a river serpent. He must have woken up from hibernation when the river thawed, so we need to put him back to sleep.”

“Mmm, to do that we need to work together.” Celestia replied. Her brow furrowed. “One of us will need to force him under while the other freezes the river over. Once it’s frozen, the river serpent will surely return to hibernation. I am unable to freeze anything at the moment, so I will be the one to force him under.”

“Excellent!” Luna stamped a hoof. “Consider the river as good as frozen.” While Luna was still speaking, the river serpent launched itself at them, closing the distance within seconds. The sisters barely got out of the way before the creature snapped its mouth shut right where they had been standing.

Its maw is large enough to swallow a pony whole! Luna noted, taking to the skies. Something nagged at the back of her mind. She replayed the scene in her head. The light had reflected on something golden in the creature’s mouth before they had moved out of the way.

“Go, Luna! I will do my part!” Celestia called from below, facing the creature. She summoned a shield and began to force the serpent back into the river.

Luna flew to the other side and landed. She concentrated on the tremendous spell that would seal the water’s surface for the rest of the winter. As she finished her preparations, it came to her. She realized what she had seen in the serpent’s mouth.

The missing shoe! Luna’s glowing eyes widened. Looking out across the water, she saw that Celestia almost had the creature in the river again. Celestia’s magic was wrapped around the great beast and she was slowly easing it into the water.

“Sister!” Luna shouted. “I am ready!”

“Okay!” Celestia replied. She gave up all pretenses of a struggle and forced the river serpent into the deepest part of the river within a matter of seconds.

“There is one more thing we must do, Celestia!” Luna left the river bank and headed straight for the serpent. “Can you open his mouth for me?”

“Yes, but why?”

“To right a wrong. Trust me!” Luna called back. She dove, not waiting for a response.

Without hesitation, Celestia opened its mouth. Luna numbed the area and worked quickly to remove the shoe. It was no small feat to hold on to multiple spells at once. As the crushed metal loosened its hold on the soft tissue, she was able to see the damage that had been done to the creature’s mouth and winced. It was no wonder it had been so aggressive. Extraction a success, she cast a simple healing spell and darted away.

“NOW!” Luna cried above the creature’s roar.

Celestia gave one last immense push and flew out of the way. As soon as the river serpent was under the water, Luna let the magic loose on the river. An icy blue beam with a spell to match collided with the surface and rapidly spread as far as the eye could see. The instantaneous freezing of the river water produced a tremendous tremor that shook the valley with a deafening boom. Luna landed next to Celestia as the ground stilled, panting hard. She waved the mauled shoe at her and Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise. They said nothing for a moment, choosing to survey the river. It was perfectly frozen over, no signs of the recent struggle. Even the greenery on the river bank had disappeared. Luna finally caught her breath.

“That was… something else, wouldn’t you say?” Luna gestured with a foreleg at nothing in particular.

“Indeed,” Celestia laughed. “I am glad it’s over!”

“It figures that our outing would be interrupt--Wait, do you hear that?” Luna’s ears twitched.

The sisters stood still, listening. For a moment the residual echoes from the boom were all that could be heard, but then a rumbling sound joined them, steadily growing in volume. The sisters looked up at the same time. An avalanche was coming.

“Of all things--!” Celestia shouted.

“Is there to be no rest for the weary?!” Luna exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief at the oncoming snowslide. It moved at a steady pace down the mountainside, effortlessly uprooting trees and supplanting boulders. The avalanche was an immovable force, a behemoth devouring everything in its path. The magnitude was so great that there was no way to stop it. The valley would be destroyed.

Time seemed to slow down. Luna stood frozen in place, her mind scrambling to find a solution. With each passing second she grew more and more panicked. It was just like before, all those years ago. There was no one to help her, no pony to turn to. The responsibility of the night had been her burden to bear, and a thankless task at that. She had been too weak to carry it alone, to carry out her duties as a princess without succumbing to her dark inclinations. And here she was now in this present age, unable to perform the most basic duty of protecting the land from harm. Pathetic. An excuse for a princess. She really was unworthy of her crown--

Luna was startled out of her thoughts by a light pressure on her shoulder. She looked to her side and there was a white blur. She blinked to clear her eyes, surprised that she had started crying. Celestia pulled away her wing tip, concern creasing her brow. Luna had been so caught up in the moment that she had forgotten that she wasn’t alone. It was nothing like before. They were older now and more experienced. She had a sister who was more present, supportive and perceptive of her struggles. They were in this together.

Celestia shifted her gaze to the sky and stepped forward, eyes flashing with determination. The aura around her grew brighter and heat radiated from her. She turned to her sister again.

“Luna, do you trust me?” Celestia looked her in the eye, an uncharacteristically calm expression on her face. It was a simple question, but Luna knew its deeper implications. It was one she had struggled with in the past, and her younger self’s response and subsequent actions had cost her a thousand years of isolation. All those years she had only thought of herself and the suffering she had to endure, but after her release the Elements gave her a new perspective. She may have lost everything, but somepony else had lost almost as much as her: A sister. Not anymore, and never again would she allow it. Luna took a steadying breath; she had long since made her decision.

“Yes, Celestia, I trust you. You know that I trust you.” Luna felt strengthened by the declaration, like a weight had been lifted from her chest at Celestia’s radiant smile.

“Don’t worry, little sister. We’ve got this together. Protect the ground, use your shield now!” With that, Celestia launched herself at the oncoming avalanche, her celestial aura growing in intensity. Luna immediately complied with Celestia’s command, surrounding herself and nearly the entire valley with a turquoise shield. Now all she could do was wait.

The avalanche had picked up speed and was approaching a drop that led directly into the valley. Celestia poured more and more power into the aura, extending it as far as it would go. The sky was ablaze with her magic. Super charged, she met the avalanche head on just as the wall of snow began to free fall from the mountain. Upon collision with the hot aura, the snow hissed and became steam. Debris caught in the snow was freed and hurtled towards the ground. Celestia held firm against the onslaught. The air was filled with so much snow and steam that Celestia began to lose sight of her own aura. It took all of her concentration to keep up with the spell while protecting herself from projectiles.

Far below in the valley, Luna braced herself against the force of the heat as it reached her shield. The temperature was more intense than she was expecting and the snow around her began to melt. She poured more energy into the spell just as she was bombarded by falling trees, boulders, and other debris. Luna held on for what seemed like an eternity. Ever so slowly the debris stopped coming, then the cold returned, and finally the fog lifted from the clearing, revealing Celestia. Battered and bruised, she stood smiling up at the sky, which was now covered in dark clouds. Snowflakes began to fall. Luna sighed. The valley was safe.

Author's Note:

The next chapter wraps up the story
5/31/20 edit: It’s shaping up to be two more chapters!
8/24/20 edit: Chapter revised for better flow for upcoming Chapter 4 :)

Comments

[Ice Star]

I can't wait to see the picture for this chapter!

[SparkleForever]

10211208
Thank you! I’m so glad you like it. I’m really trying hard to finish it! Your comment actually spurred me on to work on it several weeks back and I made a decent amount of progress. If I received more feedback, I think I would be able to finish this sooner. There’s no greater motivation than comments. I don’t mind the slow pace too horribly, though. It amazes me how much this story has developed in the last 18 months that I have been working on it. Every time I come back to it, previous mental blocks disappear and more and more of the story falls into place. Writing is a slow process, but it’s so fascinating.

[SparkleForever]

10211210
Great! :D It’s actually in the works right now, in the sketching phase. I think I’ll get that done soon, way before the next chapter. I have to film it and make a YouTube video first, but I’m aiming for a week to two weeks on that. :)

[Ice Star]

10263145
Awesome, keep up your hard work!